Chapter 28: The Birth of the Rogues

The Northern Settlement had originally been a massive water-themed amusement park before the apocalypse.

When the outbreak first started, the entire park area was filled to the brim with thousands of flesh-eating zombies.

The military chose this specific location for their primary safe zone because of its high, reinforced concrete perimeter walls, and because the wide expanse of the Seattle River provided a natural defense along its entire eastern border.

The Seattle River becoming an absolute no-swim zone for zombies was an unexpected, welcome surprise for the high command.

That being said, the military alone had been completely unable to clear the park in the early days.

The area was infested with multiple mutated zombies.

Standard issue assault rifles and military hardware were horribly inefficient against these mutated variants.

Killing a single Feral required soldiers to unload multiple full magazines of precious ammunition into its skull just to bring it down.

That was when human survivors who managed to kill infected began awakening strange, supernatural talents.

Still, not all of these awakened talents were useful in open combat. Some abilities were barely better than ordinary human physical capabilities.

Yet, when some of the armored soldiers suddenly obtained these strange powers, their long-standing sense of military duty slowly began to erode.

Even though the older, more experienced soldiers possessed absolute, unshakeable loyalty to the high command, the newer recruits obviously did not share those same ideals.

They simply began deserting their posts in droves. Some of these deserters, fueled by a delusion of main character syndrome, died terrible deaths out in the ruined streets after vastly overestimating their new powers.

Meanwhile, others chose to become merciless overlords in urban districts lacking a military presence, preying upon the weak and defenseless.

They targeted women and children especially.

The military constantly found themselves forced to spend valuable time and resources clearing up this internal mess instead of properly securing the settlement’s outer borders.

That was until she finally arrived.

Her name was Salma Al Mansari.

Accompanying her was a remarkably powerful team of civilian human awakeners.

They swept through the amusement park, easily clearing out the mutated zombies and firmly cementing the foundation of the safe zone.

When the military high command offered her squad official positions, complete with high military ranks and rich privileges, what do you think she said?

Walking down the dusty asphalt path of the settlement, the Professor was inwardly happy to see how thoroughly invested Summer was in his story.

Her glowing ruby eyes were focused entirely on his face the whole time without moving, almost like she feared missing even the smallest detail of his tale.

"What kind of rich privileges?" Summer asked, cutting in instead of guessing her answer.

The Professor rubbed his chin in deep thought, tilting his head back slightly. "Everything you could imagine. Unlimited military rations, private living quarters, high-tier weaponry, top-tier medical care, clean clothes, fuel, protection, and guaranteed safety from..."

"Is there candy?" Summer injected before he could even finish his sentence.

"Huh?" The Professor froze mid-step, a cluster of invisible question marks floating above his slicked-back dark hair. "I mean... obviously yes. Candies are not that hard to salvage from abandoned supermarkets, so..."

"Then she might have said yes," Summer’s eyes brightened as she answered, looking genuinely happy to have found a logical conclusion.

She did not think any sane person would ever reject sweet, delicious candies.

The Professor stared down at her with his mouth agape, utterly speechless.

He recalled the scene in his mind once again.

He remembered how that terrifying woman, who could single-handedly overpower an entire horde of mutated zombies without breaking a single drop of sweat, had faced the General’s grand offer with a heavy frown.

He remembered her standing before the military brass, crossing her arms and making a single condition: "If there are strawberry candies cooked by the military chef..."

For a steady supply of strawberry candies handcrafted by the military’s top personal chef, she promised the General that her team would clear up the ugly mess the military deserters had left behind in the outer ruins.

However, she firmly stated they would never officially join the military ranks or wear their uniforms.

That was how the independent faction known as the Rogues was born.

Some bitter soldiers even nicknamed them behind their backs as the Candy Men.

"Ahem... Boss Chubby, what I am directly trying to say is..." The Professor patted his chest in pride. "I am her official right-hand man!"

"Are you her puppet too?" Summer asked aloud, her tone turning into surprise.

The moment she spoke the word ’puppet’, the aggrieved, tearful face of One instantly surfaced in her mind.

The giant four-armed mutant was still waiting outside somewhere in the city, holding back from rushing here only because she had ordered him to stay put.

She decided she would definitely go back and check on him later tonight.

Besides checking on One, she had another massive, unfinished project that she had stalled purely because of human interference.

Evolving her controlled zombie puppets into Ferals.

With her Intelligence stat now standing at a staggering twenty points, her mental capacity allowed her to command a total of one hundred zombies simultaneously.

And because she had evolved into an Elite Zombie, she could now evolve all her puppets into Ferals.

Summer’s ruby eyes shone with intense excitement just imagining an army of Ferals under her direct command.

Meanwhile, the Professor choked on his own breath upon hearing her blunt question.

"Not a puppet!" He desperately tried to correct her, flailing his hands in the air. "I am a reliable, trustworthy person!"

"So a puppet..." Summer concluded with a small nod.

"Boss... You... Sigh." The Professor’s shoulders instantly fell like a deflated balloon, his pride utterly crushed by her straightforward logic.

Giving up on defending his dignity, he quietly led her toward the far western corner of the settlement.

When they finally arrived at her assigned living quarters, the Professor’s face turned completely red with pure anger.

The military had assigned her an abandoned, forgotten aquarium building. It seemed to have been completely abandoned even long before the apocalyptic outbreak started.

Everything inside the vast structure was covered in thick layers of grey dust, shattered glass display cases, and rusted steel pipes.

The single soldier leading them through the dim hallway flinched under the Professor’s furious glare.

This soldier was actually one of the young men Summer had saved from the Psychokinetic Boss Feral earlier.

He was the only soldier in the entire camp who possessed enough courage to guide the zombie girl to her designated area.

"This is the farthest building from the other civilian survivors," the soldier explained nervously, stepping back toward the doorway. "The Mayor ordered it so people would not panic."

Summer did not care about the dust, the isolation, or the soldier’s excuses in the slightest.

Her entire attention was immediately captured by the massive, indoor aquatic pool sitting right in the center of the main hall.

Because the settlement was originally built as a water-themed park, the filtration system connected to the Seattle River’s underground pumps had kept the massive pool’s water perfectly clear, fresh, and pristine.

The young soldier struggled with his words for a brief moment before bowing his head deeply toward Summer.

"Thank you for saving us back at the intersection," the soldier said, his voice trembling slightly with genuine gratitude. "And I am deeply sorry if any of my people offended you at the gate."

Without waiting for a response, the soldier turned on his heel and left the abandoned aquarium as fast as his feet could carry him.

Summer glanced briefly at his retreating back, then her eyes returned to the sparkling, crystal-clear water of the deep pool.

She possessed the deep-rooted instincts of what to do before swimming, but as an undead girl who did not remember her past, she lacked proper bashfulness as a lady.

Without giving a single second of attention to the stupefied Professor standing right beside her, Summer unclasped her heavy Black Iron Brawler Gauntlets and let them drop to the dusty floor with a loud, metallic thud.

She then stripped off all her outer clothes, leaving only her basic dark undergarments, and casually jumped straight into the deep pool.

SPLASH!